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In its fourth year, the 2014 Reputation Rankings are based on results from an invitation-only survey from 10,536 academics from 133 countries.

U-M is one of only three public institutions in the U.S. in the top 20. The others are University of California, Berkeley (6) and U-C, Los Angeles (10). The United States had 46 institutions on the list.

"Michigan has firmly established itself as part of an elite within an elite, making the top 15 in the world consistently since the survey was first published in 2011. This is an outstanding achievement," said Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education rankings.

"To sustain this high position when many other U.S. public institutions have suffered significant reputational decline, following serious pressure on state funding, is even more remarkable."

U-M ranked No. 12 on the list in 2013.

The ranking is one of two released annually by the organization. Its more comprehensive World University Rankings were released in fall 2013. The annual list ranks the top 400 universities and is based on 13 performance indicators separated into five categories: teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook. U-M ranked 18th on that list.